Mechanistic models of animal movement

This project aims at forecasting the effects of climate and land-use change on the distribution and abundance of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). I intend to develop mechanistic home range models based on individual-based movement datasets and remote-sensing derived measurements of environmental attributes. In contrast to statistical home range models, mechanistic home range models incorporate both behavioral and environmental cues into the underlying rules of movement to provide ecologically-based, spatially explicit predictions of animal space-use patterns.